Years Past.

Turns out that I haven't actually taken a family photo at Bishop Orchards every year, only the last two years, so I'm not actually breaking a 7-year tradition or anything. . .phew!

I did however, take photos every year without fail, and they are some good ones!

2004, Kayte was not yet 2, Will was 7 months, and Joe was still a young pup:

2005:


Um, does anyone else see the resemblance? Will/Ben? Seriously.

2006:

2007, Sara existed, but didn't make it into this photo - poor middle child:

2008:

2009:

See. Last year we were even coordinated!

Apple Picking 2010

Sunday was a perfect day for apple-picking! Despite a few raindrops at the start, it was warm and fallish and all the Casebolts met up at Bishop Orchards in Garfield for our annual apple hunt and cider-making.

Oh yes, the kids wanted their own baskets for apples, and I managed to remember where I had stashed their Easter baskets. Not exactly fall-ish, but they now serve two purposes - yay!

She makes those tart apples look delicious!

I didn't remember to take the usual family/kids photos that I have done every other year since Will was 6 months old. . .But I did talk Will into snapping some of Joe and I. That'll do for now :)

Dave wired up this contraption for getting the best apples from the top of the tree. . .I supposed he'd gotten tired of climbing up to get them. I know now where my son (and my husband) get their 'inventor' gene.

Oh. More of us :)

Isn't she lovely?

This pic reminds me a bit of Blueberries for Sal :)

And, the cider-making. Every year, without fail, someone gets walloped in the face with this crank. This time it was Will. My warnings go unheeded. . . . you'd think memory would make a fairly good impression.

What's more fun to a group of two-year-old boys than a large tub of water with floating weapons in it?

This little jaunt was followed up by a solid two hour nap from the six of us, then the traditional chili and cinnamon rolls at the Casebolts. What an awesome kick-off to fall!

Jack's soccer debut:

The best thing about having a nephew in soccer (and none of your own children) is that you only have to show up when it's warm and fallish. Which it was for Jack's first game! I love how he has his hands in his pockets all the time, just bein' cas'.

And little Henry too!

Fair Fun.

Some of the goodies that the kids picked up from the fair included nurse and doctor hats, and various patriotic paraphenalia. Leave it to kids to use a few giveaways to launch a day of imagination. They spent 3 hours on Saturday morning getting together their hospital. Their room was neat as a pin, and there were charts and clip boards and even a wall dedicated to the Flag.
This was the note on the outside of the door:

What a nice sweet clinic that hands out hugs and kisses. . .
(That 'thing' was like a credit card, I assume it was for paying your copay :)

And the flag shrine. . .
Aren't they the coolest?

The Fair!

We made it to the fair last weekend - I almost forgot all about it after all the Henry excitement! We went Friday night and started out with the trains, as usual:

I'd say that was definitely a highlight for Ben.

We did get to the bunnies and chicks, but somehow completely missed the big animal barns (I wasn't too broken up about that :) The kids had done much of the regular tour on their school field trip and were much more excited about getting to the rides. We bought a small roll of tickets and went to check them out.

We skipped that one :)

Love this pic!

Kayte had to miss out on most of the rides, so we did some games too. Will won a really loud obnoxious light-up gun, and that made his night.

Kayte took the younger kids through the mirror maze, and I was so busy trying to get a good shot of them, that Ben kept running into the glass at full-speed. Poor kid.

The grand finale is always an elephant ear with a side of the Kingpins, which is definitely one of my favorites.

Joe and I headed back to the fair the next day to sit at the Logos Booth and hand out balloons. We saw a lot of people we knew go by, and we spent 2 hole hours just hanging out, just the two of us in relative calm and quiet, which was the closest to a date that we've snuck in in the last couple of weeks. So that was fun too :)

I do love the fair-I cannot believe it has come and gone already and we are nearly into October!

Yes, please!

Ok, I saw this porch at a house in Spokane, and now I'm in love. I mean, who thought up the fireplace built right into the porch wall? That is now officially on my wishlist. If I wasn't so proud, I would've walked right up for a closer look, or even put my feet up there for awhile. . . .

How's Kayte?

Kayte's doing great! This past week, they custom-fit a smaller brace for her so it is nice and tight, and the bone is performing the miracle of knitting itself together. If God didn't make that possible, I just can't imagine how it came to be!


I finally got a shot of the x-ray. This one was taken 8 days after she broke it, so it was a bit worse than this the week before (if you can imagine that!):

Ouch!!! If you zoom in a little bit, you can actually see splinters fraying away from the tip of the bone. Poor babe!

Coming up on 10 years!

In August, Joe and I took the Jeep down to Elk River Falls for a picnic to celebrate the 10 years since our engagement there!
It's beautiful, and what a cool memory. We reflected on the last 10 years and all that has been done in a decade! Four new people, college graduation, new jobs, places we'd been. We've racked up a lot of memories! And the next ten years will find us with 4 teenagers, hopefully a new house, and who knows what else. I love this life, and I love that I get to share it with Joe :) I'm ready for the next 10!

Lunching al Fresco.

Aren't they cute?
Someone was just asking me today about the 'friend' dynamic among my siblings. Kayte and Will have always been tight. Being only 16 months apart, they grew up together like twins. Kayte doesn't remember life without Will. And for the most part, they really adore each other. When Kayte was off at school and Will was home, Will and Sara had to learn to play together, and they got on pretty well. It is nice when you are only working with two at a time, three always sets things a little off-kilter.
Recently it has just been Sara and Ben. And they don't always get along so well. Being the younger set, they've had to learn to fight for their place a little, so fighting comes quite naturally. There is always someone bigger out there, happy to tell them what to do. One day, I took Sara aside and said, "Sara, don't you see Kayte and Will and how much fun they have together? They like each other and play together and get along. You are the older sister. You need to learn to love Ben the way that Kayte and Will love each other."
She really liked this idea, seeing herself as the older one, in charge of making it work. And I've seen them working things out a little better lately. I love that. I want them to be tight. And I love it that Kayte and Will are such an easy example for them!